


Far Side of the Planet

by fakescorpion (SiZodiac), FromMidworld, Lantheo



Category: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC Cinematic Universe, Man of Steel (2013), Suicide Squad (2016)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 14:34:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10743678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiZodiac/pseuds/fakescorpion, https://archiveofourown.org/users/FromMidworld/pseuds/FromMidworld, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lantheo/pseuds/Lantheo
Summary: While rescuing his father from a tornado, 17 years old Clark Kent revealed his power, and Amanda Waller found him. A few years later, as an agent of ARGUS, Superman got a mission: to capture the bat vigilante in Gotham. [Translating into English]





	Far Side of the Planet

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [星辰暗面 Far Side of the Planet](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7408171) by [FromMidworld](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FromMidworld/pseuds/FromMidworld), [Lantheo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lantheo/pseuds/Lantheo). 



> This fan-fic is inspired by a podcast story by Dr. Awkward, the host of the Man of Steel Answers Insight Commentary Podcast. The story could be found here: http://www.manofsteelanswers.com/40-storytime/
> 
> This work is originally written in Chinese. Now as one of the authors (FromMidworld), I am trying to translate it into English. If you could read Chinese, I highly recommend the original work.  
> The translation is mainly an effort for practicing my English writing skill (which do need a lot of practice). So if any part is hard to understand or contain strange word choice or packed with bad grammar. It's probably just my English, please don't hesitate to give advice. Thank you! 
> 
> Now the other author of this story, Lantheo, has joined the translation and fakescorpion (SiZodiac) is helping us proofreading the English version! 
> 
> The story began in 2002, when Batman first meet "the superman", so most of the main characters are much younger than they were in the films.

ARGUS was getting trickier to deal with, Bruce thought as he stepped down hard on the car's accelerator. He had already won the battle of this night, just has to make sure he lost any hostile tails as he retreated back to the Cave.

The Batmobile was speeding along the port of Gotham, with a sharp turn the result of a dangerous drifting maneuver, the headlight of the car shone, slicing through the almost tangible darkness of the night to reveal -- a man, standing tall and still in the middle of the road. He looked solid and oppressing, wearing light combat gear, though didn’t appear to be armed. With goggles and a mask obscuring his face, the man stood motionless as he stared at the militarized car coming straight toward him at a velocity faster than 160 miles per hour, his gaze set and with no apparent intention to move aside.

Subconsciously, Bruce stepped on the break and rapidly turned the steering wheel. But it was too late.

The Batmobile ran into the man with a loud crash, as if it collided with a wall. No, if it was a wall, it would be made if solid steel -- as the speed and durability of this car could easily run through a brick wall. Bruce lurched in his seat as the Batmobile lost control, the car swinging wildly off course before it finally came to a sudden stop with a loud crash. It was fortunate that Bruce discover he received only minor bruises over his chest from the seatbelt, rather than something much more severe and lasting. That was when he looked up to find the man -- completely unscathed -- advancing slowly towards him.

Before Bruce could react, the man leaped onto the hood of the car and grabbed a hold of the double doors, then the heavy alloy plates designed to flip up like wings from the back were torn clean off their hinges like ripping the wings off a pinned butterfly. With a flick of the man's wrists, the metal doors were sent flying in different directions, before crashing onto the ground with two resounding "clangs" at least thirty yards away.

What the hell is this!??

The man looked down at Bruce.

“You criminal career ends here, Batman.” A surprisingly normal and youngish voice said.

But Bruce was not looking at the man as he examined the control panels of the Batmobile. Several yellow warning lights were blinking but the car was still in working condition, so he stepped down hard on the accelerator. The Batmobile roared back into life, with some electric sparkles flaring as a result from the previous crash, and the man on the hood staggered before being forced to jump off. Bruce flipped on the jet propulsion, the Batmobile's acceleration reached a precarious point as Bruce chanced a glimpse at the rearview mirror. The man -- no, whatever that was, it was no man -- was leaping so high it was impossible, before landing heavily onto the trunk of the car. Bruce promptly turned the steering wheel in hopes to get rid of the unwanted hitchhiker, but that unfortunately didn’t work out. The man -- or thing -- squatted down and reached for him.

“You cannot escape from me!” The voice shouted. Bruce managed to evade the first grasp, so the hand instead seized his cape. The man then jumped to the side off the car, and Bruce felt the tug of a mighty relentless force. If Bruce was a little slower in pulling off the seatbelt, he would probably know firsthand what it felt like to have over 5 tons of Batmobile alloy hanging off his flesh-and-bone body by the thin strap of a belt, and that would unquestionably be more than enough weight to torn through his torso. There was never a doubt that his assailant actually could lift the Batmobile.

Having lost the driver, the car spanned out before skidding to an uncontrolled stop, just as the mysterious man brought his struggling prey unceremoniously up to midair. Bruce promptly sliced the corner of the cape with his gauntlet blades and severed his hold, before he dropped down, rolling over upon landing and casting a smoke bomb between his opponent and himself.

Now he had a working hypothesis on the identity of this humanoid thing he has had encountered. From peripheral intelligence pilfered from ARGUS, something called “Superman” was mentioned on multiple instances. And he seemed to recall hearing the word on occasion elsewhere also. However no detailed information could be further discovered about the subject, thus could be concluded that Superman was a pivotal ARGUS asset. An extraordinarily dangerous weapon, or as the name indicated, a super powerful meta-human. Preliminary investigations indicated that whenever this “Superman” was involved in a operation, the result would be meet with nothing except complete success. It would be reasons enough for ARGUS to keep all information on the subject strictly confidential, and made sure no one unwarranted lived to tell the tale.

In all likelihood, Waller had finally decided to play hardball on the issues of the Bat. Bruce thought, no wonder the man was not armed, he himself was the weapon.

Bruce jumped to his feet and stepped back, staring intensely at the cloud of smoke. The man -- the Superman -- seemed completely unaffected by the smoke as he walked unperturbed through the non-obstacle.

Bruce backed off a few steps more as he fling out five Batarangs with precision. Three of them were explosives that he didn't usually use directly on humans, but this time he was doubtful they would even work.

True to form, the man didn’t even bother to evade. The two common Batarangs bounced off his body, one of which clung on his pants without been noticed at all. Two others exploded on his face and shoulder, and the last was caught in his hand before harmlessly exploding between his fingers. The blasts somewhat damaged the goggles and torn his clothes, but the man appeared to be fully intact.

Fuck. Batman cursed under his breath, as he turned and took off with a run. He shot the grappling hook up to a building and leaped, but –-

Jesus fucking Christ this thing can fly!

“Superman” flew and followed, easily grabbing Bruce by his left leg. The unexpected midair struggle precipitated a sudden dizziness spell, and then Bruce found himself above a building. He spun and kicked, but his martial art skills have little use against this being of seemingly unlimited power and durability. What exactly occurred in the next few seconds happened too fast to comprehend -- he got out from the enemy’s hold but then he was falling -- a horrifying crunch sounded from his left knee combined with a sharp twisting pain.

It must have dislocated. Bruce clenched his teeth as he adjusted his landing, rolling over as he attempted to put less pressure on his temporary useless leg, but ultimately proved futile as he still collapsed. It was a struggle to cast out an ultrasonic device.

The directional ultrasonic wave caused his opponent to pause, but for just one short measly second, before Superman stepped forward and crushed the device underfoot.

“These public-endangering little gadgets of yours do not work on me.”

Bruce barely rolled aside in time as the man came leaping at him, and saw Superman’s knee crushed a small crater into concrete, exactly where he had been mere moments ago.

Bruce gasped. That would certainly pulverize a spine if it had landed on a human being, and the reality of it hit him full force. There wasn't much of a choice left: it wouldn't be wise to engage oneself in a fight doomed to fail.

“I surrender!” Bruce shouted, holding up both hands and placing them behind his back. He rarely raised his voice as the Bat, and in fact had never uttered those very specific words, that it sounded almost comical through the voice modulator. But he was in no mood to laugh.

The words worked, halting Superman on his tracks. And Bruce finally got a clear sight of his face through the damaged mask -- Caucasian male, with surprisingly normal human features.

Superman walked over to Bruce.

“Face down, keep your hands up.” He ordered. The thought of turning his back to this being quickened Bruce’s heartbeat, yet he complied. The Bat rolled to face downward with some difficulty, as his leg throbbed in pain. Then his hands were moved to his back and with the sound of a light click, his wrists were secured in a pair of non-standard handcuffs made of some indistinguishable hard material.

After that, Superman disarmed him in an efficiently crude way. He didn’t even try to find the fastenings of his utility belt, but instead opted to simply tear it off and cast it aside. All the blades and Batarangs hiden in his boots and gloves are removed as well. The man made such short precise work, it was uncanny as if he had some sort of X-ray vision.

Small comfort in that Superman didn’t touch his cowl, but perhaps he indeed has X-ray vision so that it wouldn't have mattered. But if that was the case, he didn’t seem to recognize the distinguished face of Bruce Wayne.

Or more likely, he simply cared not about who was beneath the Bat's infamous cowl.

He lifted up the disarmed Bat and threw him into a corner of the rooftop.  Bruce sat up, clenching his teeth as pain shoot through his dislocated knee as it was twisted at an odd angle. Superman took off his broken mask and goggles, and Bruce was shocked by what he saw: the face revealed was almost too young to be called a man. Dark curly hair made messy due to the mask, and a pair of startling cold blue eyes. God... the boy might not have reached drinking age yet. What exactly was he? A new type of super-soldier ARGUS cooked out from the labs?

“Calling HQ. Got Batman under control, waiting for instruction. Over.”  Superman ducked his head and said into his communicator. His voice sounded even younger when addressing associates on more friendly terms.

“Well done, await pick up in situ. Over.” The communicator said.

“Roger that.”

Bruce definitely didn’t plan to get captured up by ARGUS. Although he hadn't come up with an escape plan yet, he still had the cowl on and the communication link to the Batcave. Alfred had been cautiously silent, though it was a given he would eventually try something drastic. Bruce got his brain on working gear.

“I thought you could fly, couldn't you just lift a guy like me?” Bruce asked. He wasn't asking to be flown into a secret prison of Amanda Waller’s, but he wanted to get this young man talking. Also, it would be a lie to say he wasn't somewhat curious about how a man could fly. He didn’t really expect Superman to actually answer.

“I cannot be seen flying. ”

“So you CAN fly. You are ‘the Superman’.”

The declarative statement received no answer. Bruce counted this as an acquiescence.

“So the most powerful supernatural creature I ever had the fortune to meet is a young man who sees himself as ‘a good cop’, ” Batman forced a smile, while the Bruce Wayne part of himself start thinking, “Never occur to me that my ‘criminal career’ would end like this.”

“You are a criminal and I am bringing you in, plain and simple.” Superman frowned.

“Fine, so you are the good guy, but aren't you going to give me my Miranda warning? And I want a phone call to my lawyer.” Bruce said, with a pained hiss escaping from between his teeth.

Superman didn’t reply. He crouched down, and Bruce automatically tensed up from the inescapable close proximity, but all he did was reset his injured leg joint. The process quick and precise, Bruce barely felt the pain.

“Lawyer is not for threats to national security like you. Right tibia fissure fractured, better not move.”

\-- so the Superman DOES have x-ray vision.

“I admit I did break more than enough law, and I only said that due to nothing I say would be used against me in court.” With the dislocated knee problem solved and relieved from a lot of pain, Bruce got more space to think and talk, so he attempted to try to get an upper hand. “But, son, I feel it is necessary to tell you. This good cop routine or patriotism, whatever you call it, it is clear stemmed from nothing more than brainwashing.”

“What necessity -- ?” Superman —the young man, said coldly. Seems trying to ignore Bruce’s last sentence. He wanted to say something like “none of your business”, but it didn’t work out.

“You are not a good cop, boy, you are a weapon. But if Waller has to blow these ‘national security’ and ‘legitimate cause’ into you for controlling you, it actually shows you are a good man. ”

“I am not a man,” Superman said.

Bruce was frozen for a moment. He has met his fair share of beings pushing the edge of human definition as Batman. He knew the dividing line was vague from time to time. But Superman, this young boy, perhaps not normal in the traditional sense, could voice his otherness so callously. Yet compare to many "humans" the Bat had run into, this secret weapon of ARGUS' would hardly top the Inhuman Ranking List.

"That's not the point. " Bruce replied, kind of surprised himself with the eagerness in his words, as if he was too deep into the act. "Tell me, what happened to you? What has Waller got on you? Did she plant a bomb in your brain? It doesn't seem like a bomb would be a problem to you... "

"Shut up. " Superman interrupted him rudely as he clenched his fists. "Or I'll shut it for you."

Bruce complied once again, but he wanted those answers more than ever. It turned out those words was not completely useless though. He distracted Superman just enough to save the Batman from certain demise that night by acting not so Batman. Superman heard the noise, but it was already too late as he paused and looked up.

"HQ, how many you sent? "He said to the communicator, frowning.

"One helicopter."

Now Bruce understood what he meant, as he heard it too. At least five helicopters were approaching.

"Tell the chopper to stand by. There's situation on the ground. " Superman said, throwing a warning glare at Batman. "STAY QUIET." He mouthed.

Police sirens were approaching from all directions and the helicopters were within sight as the blinding searchlights lit up the rooftop.

Okay, so this is what you could come up with, Alfred? Bruce thought.

"Surrounded by GCPD, request clearance for flying. " Superman said.

"Negative. Keep stealth."

"I cannot take him on the ground while keeping stealth. Batman is not a metahuman and he is disarmed, I can leave him with the poli -- "

"Don't you know GCPD has been playing footsie with him? That's almost the same as releasing him. "

"Then I'll capture him again. "

Even in such a bad condition, Bruce still almost broke into laughter when he heard the confidence in that line, but the faint smile dropped from his face as a cold female voice cut into the communication abruptly: "Kent. This is the Wall. This is an order: eliminate Batman right now. "

"Can't do it, ma'am. " Superman resolutely refused, "I have to evacuate from the scene now. "

"KENT!" The voice of Waller barked, but Superman just went off the edge of rooftop without a backward glance, vanishing instantly from sight. Batman immediately got into action. He curled up and bent over his legs to move his cuffed hands to the front. His movement completely unaffected by the pain diagnosed by Superman as "tibia fracture". He stood and picked up the utility belt, retrieving the tools needed to pick the handcuff. Considering this piece of ARGUS hardware might contain a tracking device, he casually tossed it into the debris.

"Alfred, how much does the GCPD know?"

"Let's put it this way, Master Wayne. They didn't expect to rescue Batman or arrest him. How's your leg?"

"Well enough to get back." Bruce inhaled heavily.

Good thing police officers in Gotham were almost used to seeing Batman leaving crime scenes. He should thank Gordon for this some day, Bruce thought, but that idea only registered in his mind for a second since a much more disturbing fact occupied his whole mind: there was indeed an inhumanly powerful agent of ARGUS, and now Batman was a target.

 


End file.
